Review | Mico Simonde – ‘The Inner Blues of Me and Marvin’ (Album)

Mico Simonde takes his talents to new heights as he presents an original, flawless and inspiring album that opens up a new lane not only in sampling, but bringing a legendary artist back to life – musically.

Inspired by Marvin Gaye and C.S. Lewis, underground rapper Mico Simonde presents a project he has been working on for the past few years. Most producers/rappers in the hip-hop genre have sampled the late Marvin Gaye’s music, but Mico wanted to stand out from the rest. ‘Inner Blues of Me & Marvin’ is a 9 track album that includes original music from Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’,‘Trouble Man’ and ‘I Want You’ albums. Lyrically, the album has both positive and thought-provoking messages throughout.

The opener “Hollywood Seventies” sets the tone for the album with Mico introducing himself, the late Marvin and the seventies culture. The lead single “What’s Goin’ On” is quite possibly the stand out track on the album in terms of production, lyricism and flow. Mico shines here and almost sounds like a young Nasir Jones with his witty wordplay, compounding rhyming skills and well written lyrics.

Although the album is a solid effort, after the lead single “What’s Goin’ On”, some of the follow up songs become a little bit tedious until we get to the final 3 songs, which save this album from being average. “Beautiful Pain” is an excellent tale about a young woman battling drug abuse and addiction, “The Lord’s Mercy” is overall the best song on the album and sounds like a potential single, and finally Mico showcases his lyrical ability with overwhelming substance and a razor sharp flow on the last song “Epilogue” – a fantastic way to close the album.

Mico channels hip-hop from the 1990’s with soul music from the 1970’s on Inner Blues of Me & Marvin, the album is an original, creative and introspective effort with a few minor blips – but overall a good album to add to your collection.